1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to access floor panels. In particular, this invention relates to access floor panels having spaced openings or passageways for air to pass through the panels.
2. Background of the Invention
A typical data center includes multiple IT racks. Those racks, and the associated peripheral equipment and cables, generate a relatively high amount of heat. Because of that heat, providing adequate cooling to the IT racks in a data center is of paramount importance. Moreover, it is desirable that the IT racks be cooled as efficiently as possible, as the energy costs to cool IT racks may approach a large percentage of the energy costs to operate the data center.
Data centers typically have a raised floor system, often called an access floor system. An access floor system is usually comprised of a continuous array of access floor panels, arranged edge-to-edge, and supported above the sub-floor by support structure. The array of access floor panels usually extends wall-to-wall in the data centers.
A plenum is formed between the sub-floor and the access floor panel array. The cables and other equipment may be located, at least in part, in the plenum, and the plenum may also be used as a conduit for cooling air. Often, one or more air conditioning units supply cooling air to the plenum, and some of the access floor panels in the array have spaced openings or air passageways. The cooling air passes from the plenum through those openings or passageways into the area of the data center above the access floor panel array.
One way to improve the cooling efficiency of IT racks in a data center when access floor panels having openings or passageways are the cooling air conduit from (1) the plenum between the access floor panel array and the sub-floor to (2) the area above the access floor panel array is to direct the air passing through the panels toward the IT racks. There is a pending United States patent application that discloses an access floor panel having air directional grates to direct air at adjacent structure and/or equipment, such as IT racks, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/878,657. However, grated access floor panels cannot be used in every access floor system application.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,677 discloses an under-floor modular terminal for an HVAC system that can include multiple grills. Each grill of a particular terminal has the same pattern of openings, and openings of different sizes, shapes and directions are segregated in different areas of the grills. U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,952 discloses floor panels having different patterns of openings, none of which are disclosed as being directional. U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,348 discloses directional air diffuser panels for a clean room ceiling diffuser. The panels include openings of different sizes and shapes and at different angles that are segregated in separate areas of the panels.